Found A New Obsession: Triangles

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

You probably would have guessed this but I am indeed obsessed with triangles at the moment. You can see triangles in my blog header as well as on my self-designed business cards. I don’t have a triangle tattoo (yet) but it’s definitely one of my favourite shapes. There are bed sheets, shelves, nail art, lots of illustrations and collages with triangles, it just looks so cool. I know it’s weird to use the word ‘cool’ here but that’s what it is.

I recently joined a weekend full of creative activities and I also held a little workshop myself. Guess what my idea was. Yes, it definitely had to do with triangles. The lovely people from the Creative Retreat used their fantasy to create some really awesome 3D triangles. Sorry, I still have to blog about it. I keep on mentioning it in my posts but the ‘real’ blog post has still to come. Bear with me!

By the way, combining triangles with the galaxy… OMG the best idea ever! If you’re looking for more, I found all my inspirations on Pinterest and created a ++TRIANGLES++ board. Check it out!

So, what’s your obsession at the moment?

x

Found Some Thoughts About Creativity

Tuesday, April 28th, 2015

I’ve been away over the weekend to participate in a Creative Retreat which I’ll tell you all about in one of my next blog posts but I can reveal already it was a blast. During these few days I had some time to think about creativity and what it means to us. It’s highly individual but there are some things I’ve learned from conversations as well as from my own experiences. I’d love to open this conversation with you, too.

1. Childhood Creativity
I read it in a few books and also compared it to my own childhood and it’s true: as children we’re so creative, we don’t know any boundaries. Then criticism comes into our lives and all of a sudden we take our creative work seriously. Furthermore, we compare it to “better” art works and believe the people who say that’s not creative enough. We’re being less and less creative and forget we’ve once been little creative souls walking around. Sad, isn’t it?

2. I’m not creative
If I asked you if you’re creative how many of you would say YES? If you ask me half a year ago if I’m creative I’d have said NO. But then I decided, I am creative. I just decided it and by believing in my creativity I felt more creative. So it’s not really someone else who decides if you’re creative or not. It’s a state of mind / an attitude / a relationship you have with creativity. So even if you think you’re not creative, start telling yourself you are and the rest will come naturally. You WANT to create something.

3. Others are much better than me
Yes, and?! Are we only allowed to be creative if we’re as good as – or even better – than the people we admire for their creativity? What is the goal of comparing yourself with others? What benefit do you have by looking at other people’s creative work and being jealous about it? I think it really doesn’t matter. I definitely get a lot of inspiration from other people and artists, I truly admire them, but I don’t think I can ever reach their level because I’m not aiming for this. I want to be me and do stuff. Do I want people to like what I’m doing? Yes, but that’s independent from others and at the end of the day it’s not even the most important aspect of creating something.

4. I don’t have time
Trust me that’s exactly my problem. So I believe you when you say you don’t have time. But there is also the possibility of making time and that’s what I’m trying to do. I might cancel a date with a friend or spend a few hours at the weekend to create something instead of being the first person at the BBQ party. It’s possible but you need some time management skills. I haven’t figured out the perfect schedule yet but I definitely try to make some space for creative development. It’s a learning process!

5. What is creativity?
You can read a definition of creativity herebut I also wanted to form the concept of creativity with my own words. Creativity is split into two parts: thinking/reflecting and making. Most of the time we barely start a creative project or art work without putting some thoughts behind it. If it isn’t thoughts it’s feelings and experiences which will be expressed when we’re making something. If we don’t make it or give it to someone who can execute it I don’t see it as creativity that much (you’re probably a philosopher instead). It’s lovely to have creative thoughts but true creativity shines when you’re actually producing something.

So these were some of my thoughts I had over the weekend. What are your thoughts? Are you a creative person?

Found A Snapshot: Yayoi Kusama in Copenhagen

Thursday, April 23rd, 2015

I don’t know where to start but Yayoi Kusama is one of my favourite artists in the world. I have been to her exhibition twice, once in London and another time in Copenhagen. The photo above was taken in Copenhagen at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art(it’s a shame I didn’t have a better camera then). It was a coincidence – or maybe destiny – that there was a Yayoi Kusama exhibition when I visited. The highlight of her exhibitions is the Infinity Mirrored Room. Unfortunately, the photo doesn’t do its justice but I’m telling you it’s an amazing feeling being in this room.

There was quite a long queue outside but I told my boyfriend we need to go inside again. It’s an incredible experience and so worth seeing it. The Infinity Mirrored Room has lots of little light bulbs, mirrors and a floor filled with water. There is a tiny path you can take to walk through the room. Seriously, it’s magic!

I couldn’t resist taking a picture to capture this unique moment. Even if I have visited the room before I was as fascinated and happy as the first time I saw it. Yes, this room makes me happy indeed. If you ask me where I want to be right now then I’d say in this room, in this other world. I need to write another blog post about Yayoi Kusama since she made other incredible art works I really like and since she has quite an interesting story (cue mental illness).

Would you like to know more about Yayoi Kusama? Have you seen her Infinity Mirrored Room before?

x

Found Some Paper: Zim & Zou

Tuesday, April 21st, 2015

I’m really impressed by the artist duo Lucie Thomas and Thibault Zimmermann aka Zim & Zou. I stumbled across their paper work online and it immediately caught my eye. Did they really create these art works just with paper? Yes, they did! I think I’ll look at paper never in the same way as before. I mean there was a reason I chose the name of this blog – Found Some Paper – but it just got another meaning thanks to Zim & Zou.

The attention to detail is fascinating. I especially like the pastel colours in some of their work. As you know I’m a big fan of pastel colours as you can see at the previous artists I introduced you to on this blog, such as Hsiao-Ron Cheng and the studio Vallée Duhamel. Zim & Zou do a lot of campaigns for brands. The ‘camera’ paper construction was part of a poster for the SXSW Film Festival 2014 (Austin, Texas) and the paper injections – thought that was a bit odd but then I found out what it was for – are part of a campaign for The Art of Saving a Life.

I’ve already chosen a direction for the #ArtyProject but if I have another project coming up soon Zim & Zou are one hell of an inspiration. I’d love to experiment with paper like that.

What do you think?

x

Found A New Creative Spring Event

Sunday, April 19th, 2015

In March my friend Maxine from 100Days100Letters (she draw the amazing illustration above by the way) and I organised a creative spring event in East London. I wrote about this creative morning on my blog so make sure to check it out to see how much fun we had. In a nutshell, we invited 20 people to bring along paper, inspiring materials and some enthusiasm, and worked together to craft a giant installation of bright flowers on the first day of Spring 2015.

On the 16th May 2015, we’re planning to make another bigger and better installation alongside 40 other contributors – all giving their time to their creativity and the idea that someone else might get a beautiful sight as a result of it. This will be installed on the canal side of the River Lee – a popular place for passers by heading for Olympic Park or having coffee around Stour Space – for around 4-5 days. For more info on the location see: The Counter Café which is where the event will be held.

If you think that sounds like fun (I promise you, it definitely will be) then sign up on our Eventbrite page Creative Bloom.

If you can’t make it to London that day please feel free to send anything flower related to my email address foundsomepaper@gmail.com or even post it if you like. Below you can see all the lovely contributions we received last time.

Would you like to participate in an event like that? If you imagine the best event ever what would it be?

Found An Idea For The #ArtyProject

Last week I introduced you to the #ArtyProject. This week I want to talk about the idea I came up with based on the theme beauty. I’m going to concentrate on The Beauty Of Colours.

Thoughts
Obviously, we’re surrounded by colours and that’s beautiful. I want to go one step further and explore each colour individually. I want to pay more attention to detail and absorb the environment with more care. Too often I just walk from A to B to reach my destination and I forget to notice the little things around me, especially the details. I want to consciously seek colours and be aware of what object/building/space/human represents what colour. This seems to be a very intriguing task to me and I can’t wait to go out there and discover the beauty of colours.

Inspirations
There are a few inspirations I was thinking of when coming up with my #ArtyProject idea.

Only yesterday Jenni from I Spy DIY updated her blog with a yellow themed post. I think this colour idea was destiny for me!

And there are so many other amazing Instagram accounts, which show The Beauty Of Colours, such as Splendid Rags, Mario Toy, and Bright Bazaar. I tried to avoid naming millions on my blog; it’s so addicting following all these amazing people!

It would be great if I can be an inspiration for others too after I’ve finished this project

Medium
Pictures are great but I want to try another medium to bring my colour #ArtyProject to life. I don’t know how it’ll go but I’ll definitely try to use video as well as GIF, which is technically not a medium but a format of expression. Since I’m at the very early stage of my creative idea I have no idea how the outcome will be and if I might have to change my medium entirely. Maybe at the end it’ll be lots of pictures in video or GIF format. Why not?

What do you think of my idea? Feel free to send me pictures of your colours to foundsomepaper@gmail.com and I’ll definitely put them in my final art work.

x

PS: This is a joint project. Check out the other participants and their ideas of beauty below.

Found Some Wonderful Film Music

Thursday, April 16th, 2015

I’m very excited to publish another post about music on my blog. Today’s theme is wonderful film music. The music was carefully selected by my talented boyfriend Chris again. If you have missed his last post check out his incredible Jazz music selection here. The following words are written by Chris. Here you go!

*Disclaimer* this list does not include John Wiliams, Hans Zimmer, James Horner, Alan Silvestri and a couple of other massively influential composers for Film. Suffice to say that these are certainly some of the best of all time, but here are some film scores you may not be so aware of.

1. Gattaca – The Departure – Michael Nyman

This moving piece by Michael Nyman is part of a wonderfully constructed and emotive score that correlates perfectly with the totalitarian story-line and beautifully sombre visuals of the film. I think the composer completely encapsulated everything Andrew Niccol wanted to achieve in his directorial debut.

2. Laputa – Castle in the sky – Joe Hisaishi

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation film studio that has pioneered anime and has basically been fucking nailing it since 1985, their 2nd film Laputa is fucking ace (please don’t watch the re-dubbed Disney version with James Van der Twat doing the voice over for Patsu) this is the title track written by the amazing Joe Hisaishi who has composed some of the finest film scores in history.

3. Blade Runner – Blade Runner Blues – Vangelis

Very rarely I find can you listen to an entire film score and enjoy every single track, but the music from Ridley Scotts Blade Runner with its inspired choice of composer is exactly that. If you haven’t seen the film it looks like a collated body of oil paintings set in the dystopian future, truly breathtaking.

4. Labyrinth – Underground – David Bowie & Trevor Jones

This collaborative score provides both incidental music throughout the film as well as specific focal points. I feel it adds huge weight to the fateful Goblin King Jareth’s character as well as the overall aesthetic and dimension of the Jim Henson film.

5. Purple Rain – Purple Rain – Prince

One of the finest film scores that comprises the entirety of Prince’s Purple Rain album (released in the same year 1984) Every track is an absolute banger that add invaluable depth this intricate *cough* moving *cough* thought-provoking… ummm champion of film… notable applaud must got to Morris Day and his contribution to the soundtrack (& dance moves).

Found You? Take Part In The Competition

Tuesday, April 14th, 2015

I love giveaways! I haven’t done a competition on my blog yet but I thought after three months it’s time to give something back. This gift is a bit different from the usual giveaways you’re used to from other blogs but I hope you’ll like it equally: a promotion on my blog. Lovely Lisa from Strum Simmer Sip inspired me. You can already see her on my side bar. She had the idea to do an April Ad Swap with a few bloggers. I thought that’s fantastic!

Since I want to get into designing a little more AND want to finally have something to give away I thought I choose two bloggers who participate in the competition and design an ad for them based on their blog personality which I will then put up on the side bar for a month. I know it’s just a little giveaway but it’s absolutely free and there are only a few tiny things you have to do in order to participate. You can only win!

The two designs will be done & sent by 5th May 2015 (you decide if you like it)

The ad will be put up on my blog on 11th May 2015 & will stay there for one month

So if you’re interested in getting some valuable traffic from my blog don’t hesitate to take part in this competition. I can’t wait to design your personal ad!

PS: Below is the design I created for Lisa’s April Ad Swap.
PPS: If you’re not a blogger you can of course participate anyway. I can link to any website or social media account for more traffic.

x

Update: I have now designed the two winners’ ads which you can find on the right side bar for the month of May 2015. Have a look at the designs below as well and follow Unfashionable Sundays and Through New Eyes.

Found An April Wish List

Sunday, April 12th, 2015

This month I added a few beauty products which are now on my April wish list. My absolute favourite product is the Urban Outfitters bra. It’s adorable, isn’t it?! What else?

ME

Welcome to my blog! I'm glad you're here because this is the right place to get inspired. Together we can live a more creative life and discover the curious world of art and design.
I'm Uli & if you want to collaborate with me, send me an email at uli@foundsomepaper.com.